Forty kids receive gifts through Shop with a Cop

Audrie PalmerMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 3:52 pm, Monday, December 19, 2011

Photo: Tim Fischer/ Reporter-Telegram

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Micheal, 11, from Big Spring, eyes MPD Officer Jimmy Young Monday while shopping at Target with the Shop with a Cop program. Micheal admitted at the begining he did not like police, but ended up changing his mind after the shopping spree. less

Micheal, 11, from Big Spring, eyes MPD Officer Jimmy Young Monday while shopping at Target with the Shop with a Cop program. Micheal admitted at the begining he did not like police, but ended up changing his ... more

Photo: Tim Fischer/ Reporter-Telegram

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U.S. Marshal Jay Easley helps shop for remote control helicopters with Noah, 3 1/2, Monday afternoon during the Shop with a Cop at Target.

U.S. Marshal Jay Easley helps shop for remote control helicopters with Noah, 3 1/2, Monday afternoon during the Shop with a Cop at Target.

Photo: Tim Fischer/Reporter-Telegram

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Books Yeates, game warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife, shows a train toy to Andrew, 2, 1/2, and his mother, Danielle, during the Shop with a Cop Monday at Target.

Books Yeates, game warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife, shows a train toy to Andrew, 2, 1/2, and his mother, Danielle, during the Shop with a Cop Monday at Target.

Photo: Tim Fischer/Reporter-Telegram

Forty kids receive gifts through Shop with a Cop

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As her toys were unloaded from the cart onto the conveyor belt, 7-year-old Jackie Vasquez said there was only one word to describe her shopping experience: fun.

“I didn’t sleep at all last night, and I got up early today to get ready,” she said dancing near the checkout lane at Target.

Jackie was one of 40 children in crisis situations who was given the chance to go shopping with a law enforcement officer in the sixth annual Shop with a Cop.

Members of the Midland County Deputy Sheriff’s Association hold a fundraiser each year to provide $100 gift cards to Midland children who may not be able to have Christmas. Sponsorships helped cover the costs for this year’s event, said sheriff’s office Sgt. Alan Thompson, association vice president.

Staff from Child Protective Services and Midland Rape Crisis and Children’s Advocacy Center selected the children who participated, he said.

Officers from Immigration Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, U.S. Marshals, Midland County Sheriff’s Office and Midland Police Department volunteered to help the children shop, Thompson said. Deputies from neighboring Martin County also volunteered.

“We called on all our brotherhood agencies to assist,” Thompson said. “A lot of these kids only see law enforcement in a negative light, but we want to show them that police officers are here to help and we’re good people, as well.”

Thompson said many of the officers who work in law enforcement volunteer each year because they love giving back to the community.

“They like spending time with the kids. For many, they look forward to this every year,” he said.

Jackie and her 6-year-old sister, Gabby, spent the afternoon shopping with Lt. Reba Beam with the Midland County Sheriff’s Office. When they arrived at Target, the girls quickly took the cart and Beam straight to the toy department. Gabby chose a stuffed dog that barks and walks, while Jackie picked up the Uno Moo game.

Beam stood next to the shopping cart with a pen and paper in hand and added up the items to make sure each girl was sticking close to the $100 budget.

Their mom, Belinda, stood nearby and watched as her daughters got to choose whatever they wanted.

“This helps out tremendously,” she said. “We’re based just on my income, and we’re having a rough time. I don’t receive any child support.”

Belinda had taken her daughters to Target after her sister had told her they had been chosen to participate in the program.

“These are things we couldn’t afford. It’s all the toys I kept telling them we couldn’t get, and they’d have to wait on,” she said as she looked inside the shopping cart.

Inside the cart were Barbies and clothing, matching Hello Kitty slippers for each girl along with socks and hair accessories.

Beam said it was a joy to participate in the program and to see the kids receive things they might not get otherwise.

“They joy is always when they light up when you tell them to go buy what you want,” Beam said. And when she asked the Vasquez sisters this year she said they answered, “Toys, toys, toys.”